Tim May ENGL 1551 Research paper 4/26/11

The Positive Effects of Music on Infants Music is universal and all cultures have some form of music. It is a very important element in society that can conduct and/or facilitate many actions. It can easily make someone happy or bring another to tears. It can bring people together or it can set a tone that will last the rest of someone's life. Adults take music for granted and, as time goes on, fail to see some of the other extraordinary feats that can be accomplished with music. One aspect of music that is greatly overlooked is its effects on babies, and many do not realize how beneficial it can be. Research shows music to be beneficial in many ways, and is shown to impact infants the most. Young children and even infants are known to have surprisingly complex abilities to perceive and respond to basic components of music. This musical competency, evident long before the development of speech or the ability to play a musical instrument, raises the question of the earliest age at which the nervous system and brain can adequately process, learn and remember music. Music can easily help a baby's development, even before birth, and can improve the overall health of a young one, both in the hospital and at home. Music readies the brain for specific types of thinking that are used in everyday life (Bales, 1998). Spatial-temporal, the type of thinking that involves the ability to visualize spatial patterns and ability to manipulate visual patterns over a sequence of spatial transformations, is one of the first types of thinking that music primes the brain for. Lingual thinking is the ability to produce speech and the ability to understand speech into the child mind. Music effects lingual thinking greatly because of the melodic structure of music resembles, and often mimics, speech patterns. In order for the brain to develop properly, it must be introduced to the right stimuli. Classical music is a type of music that acts as a perfect stimulus for brain development. Classical music's gentle and soft nature provides a soothing environment in which a baby can develop. Classical music is also perceived in the part of the brain that deals with spatial reasoning and math, meaning that the neuronal paths in the brain for spatial reasoning, mathematics, and classical music are similar. The structure of classical music is made to have rising and falling actions, which can be heard as the music gets louder

and more complex or softer and simpler. This rising and falling provokes emotion, especially in babies, and the complexities of the music stir the emotional pathways of the brain into a calm developmental state. Though classical music is a wonderful conduit for brain development, the only music that really matters is the music that the baby can enjoy. A baby's exposure to music should be gentle and should consist of both consistency and some variation. A baby should have enjoyable music, a calm and gentle environment, be exposed to the music consistently, and the music should be varied from time to time. As long as the music is perceived in a positive way, the music will have positive effects. Positive surroundings and a positive caregiver also give aid to the overall positive musical experience for the baby. Surroundings can range from soft to vibrant colors, but the positive aspects related to those colors are the feelings that are conveyed to the baby through the music being played. The baby can quickly recognize the attitude of the caregiver (usually being the mother of the child) and the baby also can be effected vary greatly by the overall attitude of the caregiver. Good combinations of musical habits are the glue that binds every musical experience in the precious neuronal connections that are made in the baby's mind (Parker, 2007). At birth the brain is still getting ready to work fully and can only do so by making neuronal connections, resulting from stimulus (Gable, 2002, p.1). Research says a human brain does not finish developing until the mid 20s. The most important development and growth occurs during the time in the womb and extends past the toddler years. During the first two years of infancy the amount of connections between neurons increases extensively. In this process rapid synapse formation occurs (Bruer, 1999), which means more neurons interconnect. An experiment done by Huttenlocker found that there were 124 million connections in a pinhead-sized sample tissue of a twenty-week-old fetus brain. A sample from a newborn had 253 million connections, and a sample taken from brain of an eight-month-old baby had 572 million connections between its cells (Chambliss, 1997). The increase in the number of connections is most rapid during the period of infancy, which is the opportune time to introduce music into a child's life. The musical data, in sound form, induces a chemical interaction

spurring neuronal connection in musical areas of the brain (Leeds, 2001). MRI's give us scientific findings that show rhythm is tracked in cerebellum, melody is tracked in temporal lobes, and the interpretation of musical notation is tracked in right hemisphere. Through MRI research music is proven to involve a large portion of the brain, stimulating many parts and organizing its auditory data into specific parts of the brain where it can be perceived as a whole. In short, music is brain exercise. Music is not just any kind of exercise though. It is exercise that can lead to increased math and spatial reasoning skills. Because music is perceived in the same parts of the brain as math and spatial reasoning skills, music strengthens the neural pathways that are used when using mathematical and spatial reasoning critical thinking processes. Musical exercise can also lead to both mental and physical improvement, which can be seen by the use of music in NICU areas of hospitals. Music creates roads in the brain that connect different thought processes with other processes that allow an infant to develop better. The early neural pathways that music creates can account for years of learning and observing, and, with a mixture of good practices, can help an infant truly develop to its full potential. One of the biggest controversies with music and infants is the music while in uteri practice. In the early days of music and fetal research, many suggested that a fetus could not even hear the outside world while in the mother's womb. As research strengthened and more conclusive evidence came to be known, scientists realized that the ability to hear plays the biggest role in connecting the fetus to the outside world. Music familiarizes the fetus with sound while in the womb and helps neuronal brain development early on in the brain development cycle. Presenting music to a child in the womb, whether through headphones place on the stomach or in a room with music being played, can be beneficial for the infant. As long as the mother enjoys the music the baby will also (Federico, 2000). The mother's attitude and mood matter greatly because the baby is literally connected to the mother at this point and can detect even the slightest mood depression or elevation. Babies can hear clearly in the womb at about twenty weeks and are susceptible to sudden mood swings. Major parts of the ear, vestibular

system and cochlea are almost completely developed at twenty weeks which enable the fetus to hear. These parts of the ear develop simultaneously, so the fetus can actually hear completely once the process has finished. Along with the sounds from the outside world, in-womb noise can also be heard by the baby very well. Blood flow and heartbeat are the two most prevalent in-womb noises. This provides a steady rhythm for the baby to listen to while developing. Heartbeat is actually the first type of music that the baby hears; Rhythm is a large part of music and usually the most easily distinguished. Harvard studies show that infants have been able to pick out the rhythm, or beat, of a song, while at the same time, keeping melody and other components to the songs separate. The baby can still hear sounds from the outer world even with the large amount of red noise from the mother herself (Federico, 2000). The most heard sounds in the womb from the outside are those with low frequencies rather than higher ones. Lower frequencies have a wide and continuous pattern than high frequencies, which results in the large resonating waves that can more easily penetrate liquid and solid matter. Music, speech, or any sound with low resonating waves can be heard easily by a baby in the womb, which can result in a better developmental environment. Sound in the womb can also vary with positions depending on how the baby positions itself, or how mother positions herself. Sound vibrations through liquid matter (blood) are very different from sound vibrations through solid matter (bone). Scientific fact states that sound vibrations move better through solid matter rather than liquid matter because solids transfer waves better than liquids. In solids, like bone, the cells are packed tightly together letting sound travel from cell to cell more rapidly and effectively. Though the in-womb sounds are the most distinguishable to a fetus, the sounds from the outside world still can have a large effect on the baby's developmental processes. The mother's internal mood is what determines the baby's mood and attitude towards its surrounding while still in uteri. A baby's biggest responsibility is to actually be born, and due to the mother's internal climate, a baby can induce labor and ultimately decide when it is ready to come into this world due to a fight-or-flight mechanism. Being connected to the mother, a baby can detect stress levels and other

negatives, like elevated heart rate, heavier breathing patterns, and stress induced sickness or pain. In other words, the baby knows when its mother is uncomfortable, angry, stressed, or even sick. The baby becomes uncomfortable and restless when the mother is not in a comfortable state of mind and body. If the baby is kept in a state of discomfort and is not alleviated from the internal struggle with the discomfort, the baby can decide it is ready to enter the world. By deciding to leave the womb, the baby acts on the instinct of the necessity of comfort. The baby does not want to be in a constant stressful environment and cannot be in an environment where development and learning is a struggle. Though it is hard to keep a fetus in a completely stress-free environment, a baby can be pacified in the womb by music, and in some cases the stages of labor were even prolonged by soothing music therapy. Music can be used to create relaxed environment for both the mother and the unborn baby (Schwartz, 1997). Again, if the mother is pacified and relaxed, then the baby will follow suit and be relaxed in accordance with its mother. The effects of music can lower heart rate and anxiety for both baby and mother. Lower heart rate means relaxation, and with relaxation the baby is pacified and content with its surroundings in the womb. Dr. Fridman's study (2006) shows out of 100 premature infants, 73% of them made speedier recoveries than the control group infants that did not receive music therapy. Numerous studies conclude that playing music to babies in the womb... helps build the neural bridges along which thoughts and information travel (Weinberger, 1994). Music is being introduced in hospitals more and more as remedies for illness and pain. Some studies even conclude that music aids in the healing process. On major crossroads for music and babies is being developed in the delivery room. The sounds of the outside world differ greatly when perceived in the womb because matter the sounds must pass through to make be received by the baby's auditory system. When the baby is born the sound environment changes greatly and the baby puts forth great effort to adapt to the new sounds and surroundings. Music helps by making the transition more fluid and is much easier if womb sounds are mimicked. Music aids in changing the overall environment for both mother and baby. The baby can perceive the music from the delivery room while still in the womb

and as the baby enters the world the music remains a constant, making it easier from the baby to adapt. The reason that music plays such a large role is because of its great property as an attention focusing stimulus and a very useful distraction stimulus. The baby's attention during birth goes to its most prevalent stimulus. Though the biggest stimulus for a newborn is from the baby's touch receptors, the next greatest stimulus comes in through the auditory system. The music grabs the newborns attention and keeps the attention until the stimulus is omitted or a greater stimulus appears. For the mother, the music can be a great distraction from the pain of childbirth, and can provide a better environment for the baby because the mother is in a better and less painful state of mind. Music also acts as a stimulus for relaxation after the birth and can decrease tension more rapidly, as well as help the mother cope with the fact her new born just got escorted off by a nurse to make sure the baby is fully developed and strong enough to survive outside the womb. The delivery room is not the only room in the hospital getting musical additions. The NICU is now utilizing music to aid with premature infants and the benefits of music in the NICU are vast. Studies show decreased developmental delays in premature infants and accelerated rates of recovery in infants that were not fully developed upon exiting the womb. Babies that were exposed to music used fewer calories and put on weight faster than babies who did not have NICU music therapy. Those babies that received music therapy also left the NICU faster and went home with their parents in a shorter amount of time. The music presented in the NICU music therapy sessions decreased irritability levels in infants, and made them sleep longer without waking and eat better without spitting up their nutritional regiments. Sleep is one of the most troubling things for a newborn, and can come in random spurts or can even evade the newborn altogether. Music helps to not only aid in sleep, but also helps the newborn to develop a much needed sleep cycle after leaving its mother's womb. Music calms the babies the babies in the NICU and puts them in a more relaxed environment in which they can survive and thrive as growing human beings. Music can greatly improve the health of newborns and clear up post-birth implications. Music decreases the irritability of newborns with implications, such as low

birth or even underdeveloped lungs. Babies with specific birth defects were shown to have better weight gain and faster healing with music therapy sessions (Leeds 2005). Overall, music helps infants in the NICU heal faster, so they can go home with their parents. Music therapy can be utilized in many other places besides the NICU area of hospitals. Therapy sessions can be instituted in the home, at daycare/school, or even at a park. The necessities for a good music therapy session are simple: calm yet stimulating environment, music that both the caregiver and child enjoy, and a child that is ready to embark on a musical journey. There are numerous benefits of music therapy sessions, and studies show that these benefits can be seen throughout the child's infancy and even up through the child's toddler years. Music has been shown to help boost motor skill development, including general movement. Once developed more intently, music can also benefit a child's listening skills and coordination abilities, including hand-eye coordination, running, and advanced repetitive tasks. Music supports learning and can accelerate the processes that create new pathways in the brain; it amplifies the outside world and the stimuli that come with being in constantly changing surroundings. Music supports what is being taught and learned.... Music makes the process of change easier on the child (Morris, 1991, p.8). The process of change is hard for an infant at first, whether it is a minor change or a drastic change, but music makes change easier to deal with by providing a calming effect. Like a baby's transition between womb and the outside world, music can also make other changes in surroundings more fluid. Evidence of this fluid effect can be seen in most daycare facilities. Managers will make certain that some type of music is being played while parents drop off their children to be place into daycare (Fridman, 2006). The music played is usually a nursery rhyme or type lullaby that has a calming and welcoming effect on the child. Music therapy is an easy device to use and accomplish. Environment is crucial to a successful therapy session. The surroundings should be calm and relaxed to give a welcoming mood for the musical experience. The environment would have a better effect if it had a multi-sensory aspect. Mutli-sensory elements would be helpful in stimulation and engaging for the child. The music selected

should rhythmic and colorful, but no real limits on what music should or should not be played exist. The music selected should be simply the music that both the caregiver and baby enjoy. Before music can ever really be an issue, the role of the child's caregiver is first and foremost the biggest player in child development, whether that caregiver is the father, mother, or even the daycare worker. The baby is greatly affected by the caregiver's actions and mood. The best way to handle a child of infant is to act calmly and relaxed, trying to use a loud voice or sudden violent movements (Krakovsky, 2005). A positive mood and overall attitude is the next step in effective child development. The caregiver should be positive toward life and the baby at all times, and make sure the child is monitored, but not inhibited from self-expression. Music is a wonderful medium that the caregiver can incorporate into a child's everyday activities. The music used should also be positive and the caregiver should also have a positive attitude toward the music. Caregivers should select and monitor the music to which the infants listen. The baby should like the music and enjoy it on a level that matches the child's age of development. A caregiver can tell that a baby likes particular music if the baby reacts to the rhythm and melody. The music will also produce happy emotions in the child, if the child likes the music. This positive music would benefit the baby, and the music selected by the caregiver should have appropriate lyrics for the child. The mood of the song should also be selected wisely by the caregiver (Caulfield, 1999). Caregivers would be smart to engage their babies in music therapy sessions, either at home or in a daycare environment. Studies show that music paired with human interaction is the true key to child development and growth (Leeds, 2005). Again, appropriate music selection is important and the true goal is to find a selection that both the child and caregiver can enjoy and to which they can interact. During the music therapy session, the caregiver can do numerous things to interact with the child. Singing and dancing with the baby can cause great amusement, as well as, physical and emotional arousal in the baby. This type of behavior leads to complex motor and lingual developmental in the child and has shown to be effective up until the toddler years of life. The caregiver can even go

as far as helping the baby make some of his own music. Pots and pans are an easy way to make simple music because it shows the child the basic rhythmic and percussive elements that make up music. Caregivers have many options to utilize in child development, but the key to any type of therapy or developmental session is to engage the child with human interaction and positive, non-threatening attention. Research on the long term effects of music is scarce, but evidence exists that point to the fact that music improves overall intelligence. Areas of intelligence in infants and toddlers that are the most effected by music are those of spatial reasoning, mathematical abilities, and motor development, including coordination and lingual skills (Morris, 1991). Many researchers conclude that extenuating circumstances exist that alter the data linking music and intelligence, but the general phenomenon that music effects intelligence is believed by the majority of US men and women over the age of 35 (Chambliss, 1997). Though most research suggests that music coupled with human interaction and multi-sensory stimuli produces the best results, music is the catalyst for learning and development to take place. Music accelerates the developmental process, whether paired with other stimuli or left alone as a singular direct stimulus (Weinberger, 1994). In some cases music has helped with other things besides intelligence. Some research shows music to be a pain reliever for chronic back pain and spinal pressure. Music therapy in older men and women was showed to lower heart rate and blood pressure by its calming properties (Leeds, 2001). Music was also shown, in many case studies, to provide the initiative for vivid self-expression, creativity, and imagination. Music's many properties can be explored and used in many ways, and the possibilities are endless because the variety and selection of music to listen to is itself seemingly endless. Some of the best ways music can be utilized are in school and daycare facilities to affect vast amounts of young ones. By instilling musical education in school and daycare generations grow with music in their lives and music becomes a constant as a child learns what types of music he does or does

not like and differentiate his collection of music to fit his personal tastes. With music instilled in a child's life, they eventually pass it to their children. Their children pass it on to their children and a snowball effect begins to forms (Morris, 1991). Generations upon generations of music influenced intelligence and guided development that blossoms into a true love for music and possible character traits. Eventually, this added intelligence and need for musical sophistication will make this country a better place. Smarter citizens makes for a better work force, and with a better work force comes a higher and more modernized economic climate. Even from an aesthetic standpoint, musical education and developmental practices starting at an early age makes everything from neighborhoods to school districts indirectly look better, in the grand scheme of looking at a country. Music can be summed up as a beneficial medium that incorporates learning and fun into developmental exercises that research shows to help a child develop. Music, when utilized in early developmental stages with infants, proves to be a helpful tool that more people, schools, and caregivers should add to the lives of the children they see on a day-to-day basis. Music leaves its mark on society in many ways, but one of the most prominent is its effects on infants. Babies can benefit greatly from music, but this fact is over looked greatly in society today. Whether the situation at hand is in the hospital, at home, or even at school, music can make the overall learning experience better and also promote learning. It is the caregivers job to facilitate the incorporation of music in a positive way into everyday situations or specifically in music therapy session. Wherever music is introduced though, infants will thrive and overall have a better life ahead of them.

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